Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its holdings in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 50,247 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,819 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $6,002,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPG. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of PPG Industries by 9.1% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 26,493 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,509,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in PPG Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at $249,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in PPG Industries by 11.1% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 47,279 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,263,000 after buying an additional 4,705 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 1.3% in the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,185 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,084,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 70.5% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,954 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,635 shares in the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other PPG Industries news, CEO Timothy M. Knavish sold 4,800 shares of PPG Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.35, for a total value of $568,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,240,835.55. The trade was a 11.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of PPG Industries from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. KeyCorp lowered shares of PPG Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on PPG Industries from $128.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of PPG Industries in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.15.

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG opened at $111.55 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $115.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.52. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $109.15 and a 52-week high of $145.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $25.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.04). PPG Industries had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 23.78%. On average, analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. PPG Industries’s payout ratio is currently 57.51%.

PPG Industries Profile

PPG Industries, Inc manufactures and distributes paints, coatings, and specialty materials in the United States, Canada, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates through two segments, Performance Coatings and Industrial Coatings. The Performance Coatings segment offers coatings, solvents, adhesives, sealants, sundries, and software for automotive and commercial transport/fleet repair and refurbishing, light industrial coatings, and specialty coatings for signs; wood stains; paints, thermoplastics, pavement marking products, and other advanced technologies for pavement marking for government, commercial infrastructure, painting, and maintenance contractors; and coatings, sealants, transparencies, transparent armor, adhesives, engineered materials, and packaging and chemical management services for commercial, military, regional jet, and general aviation aircraft.